MAGIC VS SCIENCE: A SUNDAY SERMON FROM A NON-BELIEVER

I've read several articles discussing how religion and science can coexist peacefully. I think that is a bunch of crap.

Some ground rules: If we are going to have an intelligent discussion on this topic, you are not allowed to fall back on the old escape clause that some of the bible is true fact and some parts are....lies. You got to take it or leave it.


Question: Do you believe that angels could defy the laws of phsyics?....and I'm talking about the ones that fly down from heaven and talk to humans...some in chariots.

If you heard on the news that some lady in Boise saw an angel, would your first thought be "She's lying or crazy", or would you say "I believe her" and buy a plane ticket so you could see her, too? My guess is that you would poo-poo the whole idea. But why would you, when your holy book is full of angels visiting just about every main character.

But why did they just stop coming? They were dropping out of the sky like rain a couple of thousands of years ago. That was about the time that it was reported that the creator of the entire universe (all billions and billions of galaxies) revisited earth to declare one particular desert tribe THE chosen people.

His name was Abraham.

Then these "chosen" people were enslaved and god killed a bunch of little babies and they were freed and then the Ten Commandments. 

Only there weren't just ten. There were a whole bunch more...look it up. Most of them had death penalty taboos on some stuff that were more like minor manner infractions.

But people in power have always and will always try to tell you how to live your life...it's like a rule.

Then the Romans occupied their city and messiahs were popping up every where. Some were said to be from a virgin mother. It was said that one rose up from the dead after three days. All of them performed miracles. And then Jesus came along and lo and behold he had the best of all the other messiahs rolled up in one.


Don't get me wrong. The man had the coolest message in the world (except maybe for that slip about the slaves behaving themselves) and I live pretty much like he taught. I help the poor. I don't fuck with people, etc.


But his followers? But that is a sermon for another Sunday.


Now, let's get back to science. Those primitive desert people used to think that god caused floods to punish people. Science has another take on what causes floods.

One of the first things Yuri Gagarin said while in outer space was...

"I see no god up here."
Indeed.


Science knocks down religious "facts" over and over again...it's like what it does for a living.
Insanity is not caused by being possessed by demons.
The earth is not the center of the universe.
The center of the earth is not full of screaming sinners.
Etc, etc, etc, etc,

Telling a religious person that god didn't cause the flood, but rather a shift in the earth's crust will result in them saying something like "But God caused the crust to shift."
I once had a man actually tell me this....ready...."I believe in every bit of the bible except the virgin birth, because you must have a union of the sperm and egg to make that work."

Any sort of rational discussion is impossible with people like that.

Logic...any sort of logic...plays no part in their world view.

That the statement on the sign is absurd wouldn't phase a religious person.


So science has shown over and over again that the myths from the past are just that...myths. But there remains one big mystery. 

Death is beyond our reach of understand, therefore ripe for exploitation. I don't understand it any more than anyone else, but to just make up some bullshit about a place with streets of gold and recognizing your long dead wife is just plain silly.  But so is turning in to an eagle, or being reborn as a rat, or going to Mt. Olympus, or roaming the sacred forrest, etc.

As a way of "proving" science was bogus, someone once made this statement to Carl Segan. 
"You have no proof of where the stuff in the Big Bang came from, so you're just guessing. My guess is as good as yours and I say god put it there."
Carl Segan then asked, "Where did god come from?"
"He's always been here," said the man.
"Are you just guessing or can you prove it?"


The man later complained that he had been tricked by the scientist.....tricked!


I am befuddled that so many intelligent Christians aren't actively investigating the origin of god. People are by nature very curious. Why have the faithful lost that curiousity?  Sad, that.